The Dodo Archive

Farmer's Daughter Says Tearful Goodbye To Beloved Cow

A farmer's daughter found an unlikely best friend in one of her father's cows - and now she's given her the home she deserves.

Ellena the cow was born in 2008, when the girl was 8 years old. The farmer's daughter, whose name has not been released, began to spend time with the young calf, and the two youngsters quickly formed a special bond.

"We went on lots of walks together and got really close," the girl says in a video of Ellena's recent rescue. "We did all sorts of things together and even walked through the woods."

"She was little and I was little," she added. "And that's how we became friends."

The pair happily grew up together, but disaster struck in 2011 after Ellena had given birth to her second calf. "I got a call from my dad that I have to come see her, because we have to put her to sleep," the girl says, tearing up.

Ellena had suffered an abomasal displacement, which happens when a cow's "main" stomach is pushed out of its normal position. She suffered complications, and the vet said she had a 1 percent chance of survival. The girl went to see her to say goodbye.

But it seems her love for the cow sparked a miracle. Despite Ellie's severe stomach issues, she began to eat again once she saw her friend. The family held off on euthanasia, and sure enough Ellie continued to recover - with the farmer's daughter by her side.

"I didn't go to school for two days," the girl says. "But she made it."

Ellena's miraculous recovery earned the friends a few more happy years - but unfortunately the lives of farmed cows aren't long, or very happy. Though cows can live 20 years or more, dairy cows are usually killed before their fifth birthdays. Ellena had already passed the five-year mark, but her human friend knew she couldn't watch the cow continue to live in a farming setting.

"My dad has a lot of cows, but since Ellena is so special to me she deserves better than having to live on the slatted floors," the girl says in the video.

She contacted German farm sanctuary Hof Butenland, and arranged for Ellena to spend the rest of her days living free on the farm's green pastures. But while the girl is happy to see Ellena live the life she deserves, it's always hard to say goodbye to a friend.

"I'm sad to see her go and that won't be easy," she says. "[I wish] that she will have a long and happy live, and that she will stay healthy. Because she deserves that."